Tae Shinwoo started tutoring right before vacation began. So about three times a week, he would return to his house as soon as school ended. When the tutoring finished, he’d come back to the house where Seo Eunho was, but it was usually late.
Because of that, there were days when he didn’t come home at all. Though it only happened once in a while, it was regrettable for Seo Eunho. Of course, thanks to Tae Shinwoo’s voice being even more regretful and full of irritation than his own, he didn’t have a chance to say anything.
Well, this was what Tae Shinwoo had to do during this period, so feeling regretful about it was wrong from the start. Since when had they been living together that he felt a day without Tae Shinwoo was empty? Seo Eunho soothed his lonely heart while reproaching himself. Because this was the situation he needed to get more used to.
Fortunately or not. Just in time, something came up for Seo Eunho to worry about too. It was because he was reminded again of his father’s existence, which he thought he’d completely forgotten.
Where was he going around doing what?
The reason he became newly curious about the well-being of a person he’d thought he didn’t care what happened to was because of overdue payment notification messages that started being sent one day.
“What are you looking at?”
Tae Shinwoo walked toward Seo Eunho, who was staring blankly at his phone, with big strides. Tae Shinwoo’s hair, having just finished showering, was wet with moisture.
Dry it before coming out.
Seo Eunho, who’d been thinking idly, nodded.
“It says my phone’s going to be suspended.”
After ignoring the overdue payment notifications that had been coming continuously, he’d now received notice that his phone would be suspended. So it gets suspended if you don’t pay for a long time. He hadn’t known that since he’d never had a phone before, but thinking about it, it was a natural course of action.
Well. There was no way his father, who’d abandoned the house and run away, would care about his phone. What had he trusted to leave it without paying? Seo Eunho rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sigh. It was because of an uneasy feeling rather than disappointment.
“Ah…….”
When he held out his phone to show him the message directly, Tae Shinwoo’s brow slightly furrowed then found its original place. Just moments ago his insides had felt stuffy thinking about his father, but seeing Tae Shinwoo, his heart quickly eased.
Sunday. A day when there was no need to go to school and Tae Shinwoo had no tutoring. He even thought he’d been momentarily disturbed during that leisurely afternoon. He’d been counting down the days until Sunday since it was a day he could stick to Tae Shinwoo at home all day long.
“Don’t pay it.”
Seo Eunho erased his father’s face that had been floating around in his head, raised the corners of his mouth, and said bluntly. At that, Tae Shinwoo’s jet-black eyes turned toward him, so he repeated the same words, saying “Don’t pay it.” Tae Shinwoo’s eyes suddenly narrowed, but Seo Eunho didn’t erase his smile. He felt like he could now understand a bit what Tae Shinwoo was thinking. The guy thought quite simply, more than expected.
“I’m going to pay it.”
“……You didn’t say you would.”
“You were going to.”
“Mm…….”
Tae Shinwoo tried to shake his head but hesitated. He’d definitely been planning to pay it. Tae Shinwoo was the only person he exchanged contact with on this phone. It was Tae Shinwoo who was satisfied that even if he went to his main house, they could exchange contact anytime. So there was no way he’d just watch the phone get suspended.
But since Seo Eunho came out firmly, Tae Shinwoo didn’t lie anymore either. He seemed to have judged there was no reason to.
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t get suspended, so don’t worry about it. I have that much money.”
It was money he’d received from Tae Shinwoo in the first place, but either way, he had that much leeway. The reason he’d endured without paying was because he’d held an empty hope that his father would be taking care of it.
Anyway. Looking at times like this, he really was incredibly stupid. It was ridiculous that he’d thought of his father over a text saying his phone bill was overdue, of all things.
Seo Eunho lightly shook his head to erase his face. He was someone who’d abandoned him and left. Now he couldn’t even be called family, so what did it matter what he did?
“If I go pay the bill tomorrow, it won’t get suspended, right?”
Seo Eunho muttered while leaning his body a bit more comfortably against the sofa backrest. Tae Shinwoo, who’d been sitting on the sofa likewise while looking at his phone, nodded and lay down on the sofa. The problem was that he’d used his thigh as a pillow. Strength naturally went into his thigh at the same time.
“The pillow’s too hard.”
“Why am I being treated as a pillow?”
“Are you secretly working out? Why are your legs so firm?”
Tae Shinwoo’s hand kneaded his thigh without hesitation. Seo Eunho grabbed his hand to stop him and spoke in a quick tone.
“Why are you touching someone else’s leg like this? If you need a pillow, go get—”
“It’s not someone else’s leg. It’s mine.”
He’d blurted it out from embarrassment, but regrettably it didn’t work on Tae Shinwoo at all. Going one step further from there, Tae Shinwoo grinned and turned to lie on his side. Then he even rubbed his cheek against his thigh.
Heat flared up. Seo Eunho quickly turned Tae Shinwoo’s face back to face forward. Whether he knew all his inner thoughts, Tae Shinwoo laughed out loud openly.
“Ha…….”
Anyway, this bastard had no sense of embarrassment. Still, maybe he should be thankful since his father’s face that had remained was completely erased. Actually, when he was with Tae Shinwoo, there was no time to think about other things. Since he always manipulated people like this, there was no chance for that.
The word to refer to his relationship with Tae Shinwoo had changed. In a sense, their relationship had progressed.
It would obviously be a lie if he said he didn’t like it. Though he didn’t show it openly to him, he felt like he was floating every day. That’s why sometimes he felt anxious instead. Maybe it was because he knew that the happiness he was enjoying now would someday slip out of his hands.
I’ll gradually get used to it.
Since nothing would change from thinking long about it, Seo Eunho didn’t do that. Either way, Tae Shinwoo was by his side. Someday all this current happiness would be taken away, but at least not right now. That was enough.
“……What? Are you seducing me?”
Tae Shinwoo pulled Seo Eunho, who’d fallen into useless thoughts, out with a voice tinged with laughter. Only then did Seo Eunho realize he’d been unconsciously tousling Tae Shinwoo’s hair. His hair, which wasn’t completely dry yet, had such good texture that it scattered well between his fingers.
Anyway, the way he talks. A chuckle flowed out. Seo Eunho didn’t bother withdrawing his hand.
“When I’ve already seduced you completely, what for?”
Though he felt embarrassed, he still blurted it out without any reservation. Maybe it was because he knew Tae Shinwoo would laugh happily at such words that his lips moved on their own even more.
“Aren’t you trying to make me like you more?”
“With just this?”
“Yeah. Even just this is nice because you’re doing it.”
Seo Eunho’s lips pressed shut. When they talked, in the end he became more embarrassed and it became difficult to continue speaking. Tae Shinwoo definitely couldn’t feel embarrassment.
Seo Eunho turned his head and withdrew his hand. It became quite awkward to face the passionate gaze looking at him. Anyway, it seemed like he’d never win against Tae Shinwoo. Of course, he had no intention of winning either.
“Do it more.”
However, Seo Eunho’s withdrawn hand quickly returned to its original place. It was because Tae Shinwoo had grabbed Seo Eunho’s wrist and pulled it back. His fingertips touched the hair with good texture.
“Make me like you more.”
“……Crazy bastard.”
He let out a brief curse, but didn’t withdraw his hand. The corners of Seo Eunho’s mouth, focused on the hair scattering between his fingers, quickly shot up. Tae Shinwoo stared blankly at him, then squeezed both eyes shut tightly as if he was going to sleep.
“Vacation’s coming soon.”
Next Friday was the closing ceremony. Looking back anew at Tae Shinwoo’s words, it seemed like the year had passed faster than ever before.
Eating, sleeping, playing. Spending time doing that, does it go by this quickly? It was truly a curious thing. When he’d thought he wanted to become an adult quickly, time hadn’t passed like that. But now, when he actually wanted to stay in this time longer, it flowed by disgustingly fast.
It would be good if there was just a little more time. It would be good if the time when they’d leave the framework called school and start walking toward their respective paths came as late as possible.
What he feared most was the gap that would form between Tae Shinwoo and himself. He knew better than anyone that it would form. That was something that would happen. However, what Seo Eunho feared was whether the day when Tae Shinwoo, who’d gone out to a world broader than this, would turn his back on him would come too quickly, whether he’d recognize that gap too fast—that was what he feared. He didn’t think that day wouldn’t come at all. He just hoped it would come as late as possible.
“What should we do during vacation?”
Tae Shinwoo, who didn’t know his inner thoughts, was only carefree. So that was fortunate. Because he’d hate it too if he thought Tae Shinwoo was having these pathetic worries.
“Want to go on a trip? Let’s go to a warm country and rest a bit.”
You seem to be playing around all the time, what more rest do you need?
The sulky words almost came out but didn’t. You need to study, so don’t say useless things. Well, he seemed to have thought about saying something like that for a moment too. Even though he was afraid of the future, he had absolutely no desire to interfere with Tae Shinwoo’s future. It wasn’t strange that such thoughts arose.
“Yeah, sounds good.”
However, the reason he didn’t say it was a kind of greed to fully enjoy it while there was a chance to be together. Wouldn’t that much be okay? He didn’t even know how much time was left. Yeah, it would be okay. Seo Eunho decided to convince himself arbitrarily.
If he started worrying about Tae Shinwoo, there would be no end. If he did that, even spending time idly with Tae Shinwoo like this would become uncomfortable. However, this time was very precious to Seo Eunho. Precious enough that he wanted to ignore it even knowing this too was a kind of interference.
“Yeah, trust me.”
For a moment, Tae Shinwoo’s hand came up, lightly touched Seo Eunho’s cheek, and fell away. His gaze that had been subtly off returned to its place.
He trusted the current Tae Shinwoo. But he couldn’t trust the future Tae Shinwoo. The Tae Shinwoo at that time who would wake up to reality and dismiss the time they’d spent together as nothing.
It would be good if he could maintain interest in this childish playing house for as long as possible.
The small wish didn’t come out of his mouth. Would it do anything more than make the current Tae Shinwoo feel hurt?
“Yeah.”
Seo Eunho answered without hesitation. While momentarily erasing the anxiety that arose from thinking about his father’s whereabouts and being reminded anew of his and Tae Shinwoo’s positions and the obvious future.
Of course, the emotion with remaining embers would appear again and complicate Seo Eunho’s mind, but right now he couldn’t see it, so he could ignore it.
“Ah.”
Seo Eunho, who’d been briefly lost in such meaningless thoughts, came to his senses with a start and blinked. It was because Tae Shinwoo had grabbed the back of his neck and pulled, then suddenly crashed their lips together. When Seo Eunho blinked, Tae Shinwoo said with a smile.
“It seemed like a timing for a kiss.”
There’s all kinds of timings. Seo Eunho laughed shortly at the absurd words.
“That’s not it. It’s a timing for a real kiss.”
Then he answered Tae Shinwoo playfully while hiding his embarrassed appearance. The soft lips that touched again slowly curled up.
He felt like he could assert that this moment right now was the happiest among all the days he’d lived through so far.
